CRM Handbook / Ongoing management of a CRM System
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Ongoing management of a CRM System

Page history last edited by Kate Mitchell 11 years, 7 months ago

Once a CRM system has been implemented within your institution it will require ongoing management to ensure that good practice in CRM can continue beyond the implementation stage and be part of a continuous improvement journey. Best Practice is to ensure that there is resource allocated to maintain the system and its ongoing management. For CRM to be truly successful in your institution, this cannot be done solely through your IT department, although their buy-in as a key stakeholder does aid success beyond implementation. This resource needs to be supported by senior management to ensure that when they champion the system in your institution it carries the appropriate amount of authority. 

 

It is important to keep the integrity of any data that is stored on your CRM system. This can be done through regular data cleansing and ensuring staff are trained effectively to avoid data cleansing issues. There are many companies that offer data cleansing, however it is essential that you determine specifically what data you want cleaned and how you want ithis to be done. As in all education sector procurement it is important to obtain a number of quotes to ensure value for money. A lack of data integrity will lead to issues in both your marketing activities and your business intelligence. Data is essential to the development of long-term relationships - incomplete records or incorrect data could be missing vital information that could negatively impact on these relationships. 

 

A support team/person who can answer questions and support users if they have difficulties with the CRM system is essential. Users can also be supported through drop-in sessions, on-going training and internal user groups. It will also help if a champion is selected in each part of your institution to help drive CRM forward, both as a culture and a system, or the development of a network of champions. 

 

There are many external user groups available who can be a source of support. For the majority of off-the-shelf systems these are available or, at the very least, there are online forums available to support them. 

 

Agresso CRM This is an online forum within yahoo groups organised by the product owners

IRIS- Higher Education This is a customer support area accessible by customers only

Oracle Siebel This is an externally organised user group. 

Blackbaud CRM This is a forum organised by the product owners

Salesforce CRM This is a customer support forum organised by the product owners

Sugar CRM This is an online forum hosted by Sugar CRM 

MS Dynamics There is an online forum for Dynamics users. 

 

These are the main forums but there are many out there where you can get support and share issues, find answers and find success. 

 

Finally what may help in developing and managing your system ongoing is to develop strong relationships with your counterparts in other institutions.